Army Surplus Flight Jackets

Army Surplus Clothing and Equipment

The MA-1 Flight Jacket is the most popular item of clothing ever produced for the US Military.

Originally developed in the 1950s, the MA-1-Flight Jacket (or to use it's official name, the 'Jacket, Flyers, Man's Intermediate Type MA-1' ) was developed for the new generation of jet-propelled aicraft. These new jets were flying at much higher altitudes than propeller aircraft. This meant pilots had to cope with a much colder environment whilst at the same time requiring a sleek, light-weight and comfortable jacket to provide manouverability within the hi-tech cockpits.

To meet these new needs, the MA-1 Flight Jacket was made from high quality nylon - at the time the very latest development in man-made fibres.

The design of the jacket kept pace with changing technology and aircraft design; The original MA-1 had a layer of wool sandwiched between the nylon outer shell and nylon lining. However, later designs replaced the wool with polyester which was lighter and provided more insulation. Also, earlier vesions provided a tab with which the pilot could hang his oxygen mask and loops for communication wires. Laterly these were discarded when these functions were provided by the pilot's helmet.

A major development was to be the reversible bright orange lining. In a crash landing the pilot could reverse the jacket to attract the attention of the rescue services.

The MA-1 flight jacket is still current issue and continues to protect pilots on the ground and in the air.

Lees Army Store is proud to offer a full range of top quality flying jackets. Click on the images to see the styles in more detail.